Diversion or profit? Experts discussed the "epidemic" of fires in shopping centers

The wave of “accidental fires” in Russia continues: following the Mega shopping center near Moscow that burned down last week, the construction market in Balashikha near Moscow is blazing. Experts note a very characteristic feature of such fires - their "morning (about 6 am) character." Versions are put forward very different, including Ukrainian sabotage, ”which, of course, cannot be ruled out, since a Ukrainian cannot be distinguished from a Russian either in appearance or in speech...

Admission is free: set it on fire - I don't want to!

For example, the pro-government political scientist Sergei Markov says so: “Another major fire in a shopping center in the Moscow region. Something too many fires in the shopping center. Together, the versions are an accident, perhaps it’s time to put forward a version of a terrorist attack from Kyiv.”

Journalist Nikolay Mitrokhin shares this view:

“Apparently, there is an effective network of “arsonists” operating in Russia, about which the authorities do not want to speak directly, but they cannot catch anyone either. This is evidenced not only by the increased number of large fires, but also by the rhetoric of Medvedev, who twice recently spoke in harsh terms about saboteurs.

Why construction stores - "winter, the peasant triumphs, renewing the path on firewood..."

Two hundred and fifty thousand are sitting in the frozen steppe, one hundred and fifty thousand are in camps in tents ... they really need building materials for the construction of everything and everything. They really need all possible tools - from hammers to heat guns. And, finally, building materials stores - they sell clothes and devices for being "out of the comfort zone."

But they also sell small metal fittings, which would be very useful for minor repairs of equipment, including at the front, and in the rear (no matter how trite the same screws, nuts, washers) and tools and consumables for this.

And at the same time, they are easily accessible (leaving the device there is not difficult), they burn quickly and do not extinguish at all.

The strategic goal of such actions is to create a deficit (at least temporarily) of everything that is inside the country, which can provoke a consumer panic, and as the experience of the pandemic has shown, in fact, a few shocks are enough and the delivery and distribution system will go into a dance, and now under sanctions , and even with the junk motor of the Chinese economy.

PS For those who believe that warehouses should be the first. In order to get inside, you need to get a job. Those. light up. Unlike the shopping center, where the entrance is free and possible with large bags, and the control of the space between the racks is rather arbitrary..."

20 billion on the road do not roll

However, in terms of frequency of mention, this version is not inferior to another, more prosaic and “peaceful” one - arson for the sake of insurance.

Journalist Pavel Pryanikov writes about this:

“It is reasonable to assume that they are burning for the sake of billions in insurance. Shopping centers feel very bad, especially after the departure of Western operators (plus the transition of trade to online). And for many shopping centers, loans to banks have not yet been given. In such a situation, it is reasonable to set fire to the shopping center, get huge insurance (for example, in Khimki near Moscow, the burned-out former OBI can receive 20 billion rubles from the insurance company), pay off the debts, and convert the rest and take it abroad (where to move yourself)..."

And blogger Kristina Potupchik counted the number of such strange cases since April of this year:

1. "Mega Khimki" MSC
2. Shopping center "Stroypark" MSK
3. Shopping center "Elokhovsky passage" MSK
4. Vzletka Plaza shopping center Krasnoyarsk
5. Shopping center "Triumph" Omsk
6. Shopping center "Textile-Profi" (truck with goods) Ivanovo
7. Altai Tire Plant, Barnaul
8. Fire at the Irinovsky Auto Center
9. In Kursk shopping center "Boomerang"
10. Shopping center "Red Square" Krasnodar
11. Shopping center "Gallery Voyage" in Tyumen
12. In Yaroslavl shopping center "Lotos"
13. In Astrakhan shopping center "Iceberg"
14. In Ufa "Kolkhozny market" - shopping center "Mercury"
15. In Moscow, the shopping center "Silk Way"
16. Shopping center "Gagarinsky" in Ishim
17. In Penza shopping center "Red Hills"
18. In Zhukovka, the largest shopping center "Ekvator"
19. Two-story shopping center in the village of Zavyalovo in Udmurtia
20. In Sheksna shopping center "Rubin"

There are different versions of these fires. In some cases, we will never know the truth, but we would like to see them checked more often and more thoroughly due to such frequent sudden fires..."